The Morphology of Chloranthus. 53 
hermaphrodite, 1 and examination of these species lends support to 
this view. 
The small scale at the base of the insertion of the staminal 
scale upon the ovary is usually described as a perianth. 2 Celakovsky 3 
regarded it as “a reduced incomplete perigone,” and he considered 
its presence supports the general view that the flower is reduced. 
In the structure of this minute scale nothing appears to justify 
giving it such importance. The scale is present in C. chinensis and 
C. officinalis , but there is no trace of vascular supply. When the 
configuration of the developing flower is considered, it seems more 
reasonable to regard it simply as an outgrowth standing in relation 
* 
to the rapid widening out of the staminal scale above its narrow 
insertion. In C. brachystachys, where the mutual relations of the 
parts of the young flower are different, it is absent altogether. 
The staminal scale of C. chinensis has been described above as 
bearing four anther lobes, each composed of two pollen sacs. 
Usually these have been regarded as corresponding to three stamens, 
of which the median stamen has two anther lobes, and the lateral 
ones are reduced. With this view the vascular supply is consistent, 
but from development no evidence could be obtained of the 
reduction of the lateral stamens. If the flower were regarded not 
as reduced, but as tending in the opposite direction, other inter¬ 
pretations would evidently be possible, but the facts of development 
afford no positive support for such a view. The staminal scale in 
C. brachystachys is usually described as a single stamen. The 
position of the two anther lobes is that of the typical Angiosperm, 
but the presence in the scale of two vascular bundles appears to 
point to a comparison with the whole staminal scale of the related 
species. It is possible that the two pairs of pollen sacs correspond 
to the lateral pairs on the staminal scale of C. chinensis, the median 
stamen having disappeared by reduction. If this be so, the 
resemblance the scale bears to a single stamen is only superficial. 
The facts ascertained are all consistent with the accepted 
relationship of the order of the Chloranthaceae in the Piperales, 
and this may be briefly examined without extending comparisons 
beyond the series. The relative positions of the staminal scale 
and the ovary is not widely different from what is found in species 
of Piper and Pcperoinia, but whether the two, or three, stamens in 
Chloranthus are to be regarded as remains of the staminal whorls 
1 Payer. Loc. cit. 
2 Eichler’s figure in “ Bliithendiagramme.” 
3 Celakovsky. “ Ubcr den phylogenetischen Entwickelungsgang 
der Bliithe, 11.,” Reprint p. 47. 
